Private Management Group Inc. Sells 1,190 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Private Management Group Inc. lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 86,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,190 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 430.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 613.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.15. 3,258,398 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,927,467. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $40.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $53.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.05.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.